MY WINTER FESTIVAL

The Winter will slowly crack and soften

Its determined hold on stock-stilled trees;

Abdicating its seasonal reign and releasing

The chilly cold into the waiting warmth

Of springtide and its frilly affections.

Icicles will begin to fall from the eves

And the grass valiantly struggle to pierce

The melting snow in the backyard;

They’re green rapiers pointing skyward

Straining for the sun’s invigorating smile.

Yes, Winter will eventually sanction a new season

But not yet…we are still in its secret blanket of solitude,

An enclosure of silent moments in Winter’s asperity;

I find my solemn musings coalesce into the present

And past – there I crescendo into enlightened

Astonishment and wonder as the voice

Within me reveals “peace” in the sounds

Of the inner life of Winter’s austere subtleties.

What a festival of luxuriant grace, a wise comfort

And patient mentality this winter has chaperoned!

Each breath of sharp crisp air brings renewal.

This was a magnificent romance of clarity.

I’ll walk into spring and through the summer

My life in harmony, my heart resolute.

Soon I will say "goodbye";  but I shall wait for you, 

As one would wait for a returning lover, anticipating nature’s

“Standstill” my foot firmly embedded spiritually

While the other in the physical present awaiting your

Lavish entrance upon the landscape and me once again.